"It's like Bruce Wayne and his scalloped cape," says Jen Hartford, designer and cofounder of Tasty Ties, a local bespoke bowtie company that launched last week. "When my boyfriend [cofounder Kevin Long] puts on a bowtie, it's like he suddenly he's wearing a Batsuit."

There is an...

"The sinister mode is that everything's for sale," says Ami Arad, the founder of On the Fly, as he opens the grand doors and I get my first peek into the distinguished club on Sacramento Street.

On the Fly began in...

"It seems like my pieces are real conversation starters," says Elizabeth Davis, the twentysomething creator of Spike the Punch jewelry over the telephone.

Davis, who is based in Mississippi, may have no idea just how much conversation her jewelry creates.

In less than one year, she has gone from...

Once you've done something three times, it's like you've always done it. This is my third annual in and out list. Now it's a tradition.

May 2012 be a year of authenticity, of doing what you'll say you do.

Out/ In
Square/ circles
Neti pot/ potlucks
...

Maybe Blackbook365 just appeals to me because I'm as single as the shot of espresso in my soy latte, but I think this startup may be the most exciting new company I've seen in a long time.

Blackbook365 might be best described as...

"Are you ready to get pummeled by Big Mudder? Eat a hearty breakfast (it could be your last) and get ready to sign your death waiver."

I think the normal reaction, upon receiving this text message on a Sunday morning, would be to grumble, turn off the phone and...

Telephones and technology have had a strange coexistence. Yes, smartphones are ubiquitous, but what about the actual telephone part of that phone? You know, like your phone number. And telecommunications.

Telephone calls and voicemail are almost a relic of the past. In fact the other day I heard this...

You're old school. You'd rather read a real, old-fashioned book than read it on an iPad or a Kindle. And as much as you like your iPhone camera, you reminisce about the days when cameras looked like cameras. Would you believe that it's possible to be both tech savvy and...

Black t-shirts were on sale for $25,000 at 500 Startups' Demo Day on August 16. Kind of.

Dave McClure, founder of 500 Startups, the Internet seed fund and incubator program in Mountain View, jokingly promised that when an investor wrote a $25,000 check to any of the...

Apparently in the UK there is a dating service that matches people up based on what they buy at the grocery store. I think that would do well in San Francisco too -- so that all the people who orgasm over cheese or bubble over at Kombucha could get together....

General Vang Pao, the CIA-supported Hmong leader, died on January 6, 2011, at the age of 81 in California's central valley. His influence spans as far and wide as the Hmong themselves, an ethnic group that came down from China to Laos and Vietnam in the nineteenth century and later...

There is always a lot of hoopla on how to act on Facebook. Most people understand the danger of incriminating photos, but there is a whole world of etiquette that most people are completely unaware of.

I'd like to hypothesize that the people who came of age during the...

On May 6, 2010, Madewell will debut its new collaboration with an American designer based in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The line of clothing, made in Siem Reap, is called Wanderlust. It is wanderlust that brought the designer, Elizabeth Kiester, to Cambodia.

Kiester had the fashionista's dream career. She had been...

The first thing I do everywhere January 1 is look at the Washington Post Style Section's INs and OUTs for the new year. This year, I had to wait because January 1 comes earlier in Vietnam and I was in Tam Dao, away from my computer and newspapers.

Just a few months ago I was a senior at Dartmouth College. Like the majority of my peers, I was stressed about my post-college plans. I applied for all sorts of communications, consulting, new media, and teaching jobs in a disorganized frenzy. I even considered posting my resume on...

When a friend asked me to be a judge for the 63rd annual Woodsmen Meet at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, I could not say no. I thought it would be interesting to see who these people were who competed in such events as log rolling, fire building, sawing,...

This whole idea of dating only one person at a time seems to come so naturally to everyone in my generation except for me. The normal "how we met and started dating" for a college student goes like this:

We made eyes at a party and started talking. We...

Here are some Ins and Outs for the New Year. Even though the economic downturn and war in the middle east are on our radars right now, I believe that this year will be a good one for you, the nation, and the world.

Just don't be caught in...

The first time I ever heard about investment banking was when, while in high school, I read I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. I found the novel's portrayal of college life shocking and terrifying and swore I would never go to college. I could not believe the way people...

Clothing stores that are selling vintage and reworked clothes are right on target. In this era of economic uncertainty and growing environmental consciousness, no one wants to be caught with new clothes.

Urban Outfitters has a growing part of their store dedicated to "Urban Renewal" -- a line of...